Woman arrested for impersonating soldier

August 8, 2007 9:00am

An Israeli woman was arrested for impersonating a front-line army officer during the Lebanon war.

The 24-year-old, wearing fatigues and carrying a replica assault rifle she obtained privately, spent five years pretending to be an army captain and visiting military bases, police said this week. They said the suspect would undergo psychological testing.

According to police, during last year’s war in Lebanon the woman joined an artillery unit on the border and helped troops with their duties. One Israeli newspaper reported she even was interviewed by the press as one of a handful of women to have “taken part” in the fighting.

The woman’s ruse was discovered after a soldier filed a police complaint against her alleging theft. According to the Israeli media, she had been exempted from mandatory military service and opted to play the part because “it felt good.”